Before we accept an instruction from you, we will verify your identity – we need to make sure we are not dealing with someone who is impersonating a Northern Inland Member. We may ask you to quote your NICU password, or we may ask you questions that are not easily answered by someone who has your identity documents, or who is not unauthorised to access to your accounts.

Never tell anyone your card PIN nor your Online Banking passwords and codes. Remember, Northern Inland staff will never ask you for this information either.

If you have advised us that your identity has been compromised, we will set up additional processes for when we are taking your instructions, and assist you with what to do next.

You need to verify our identity too: if you receive a call from someone who claims to be calling from Northern Inland, ask them for their name, then call us back on 6763 5111 to ask for the staff member by name. Always use our general number – 6763 5111 – to ensure you are speaking with our staff.

To get information to affected Members in a timely manner – such as changes to products or services, security alerts, or branch closures due to flooding – we may send you a Short Message Service (SMS) or an email. We will not send you links to websites within our communications. Instead, we will recommend that you visit our website and look for updates under Latest News on the home page.

If you suspect your identity is being impersonated, or if you are notified that details of your identity documents have been compromised, you should take immediate action. This includes:

• Reporting unusual activity to Northern Inland, and IDCARE (1800 595 160)
• Contacting your service providers to change your passwords and codes, and to request multi-level authentication if you are not already using it. Your service providers can flag your account and take additional steps before they act on instructions which purportedly are from you
• Ensuring you are not using the same codes or PINs across multiple providers
• Check your free credit reports with Equifax, illion and Experian. You can also request a credit freeze
• Ensure your anti-virus protection across your devices is updated
• Watch out for any unusual transactions across all of your accounts; check your statements regularly
• Ask your telecommunications provider to lock your SIM card. If you suddenly lose all mobile service, contact your telecommunication provider to ensure your SIM has not been jacked (which refers to action a scammer takes by tricking your telco into giving them access to a phone number that is not theirs).
• Contact relevant government agencies to have your identification documents re-issued.

Remain vigilant. Scammers may often wait months or years before an attempted identification take-over.

The Northern Inland Fraud Department uses a fully integrated 2-way SMS solution that sends a text message to your phone to verify a transaction. Click here to read about Fraud Alerts 2-way SMS.

So that you can quickly follow up on any transactions that might be unauthorised or fraudulent. The earlier you identify and report an unusual and unauthorised transaction, the quicker investigations can commence to try to recover funds. Contact us on 6763 5111, and after hours, select option 2.

With Northern Inland you can set up to receive an SMS when your account is credited and debited. This means you can keep an eye on what is happening with your account and identify anything unusual very quickly. You can set up SMS alert messages via your Online Banking session, or contact us if you need help getting started.

• Chose strong passwords and multi-level authentication where available. Avoid using the same password, code or PIN for different accounts, and keep these codes confidential.
• Strong passwords are at least ten characters long and include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
• Northern Inland provides you with access to SMS one-time-passwords for using with your Online Banking.

Scammers can use your social media posts to find out your personal information. If you use social media, make sure you only connect with people you know. Review your security and privacy settings regularly to ensure your information is only available to your network.

Your credit report will show if someone has attempted to apply for credit in your name, such as for a loan or credit card. You can apply for a free credit check through an official Australian credit reporting agency. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner recommends three credit reporting bodies:

• Equifax: provides a free credit report every three months
• Experian: provides a free credit report every three months
• illion: provides free credit reports at any time after the creation of a free profile.

Make sure you know who you are dealing with. Scammers can ‘spoof’ or mimic the genuine telephone number for service providers, so ask the caller to identify themselves, such as with details from your last bill or statement. When in doubt, hang up, and call on the number you find in the White Pages directory for the service provider.

Consider listing your telephone numbers with this federal register to stop marketing calls. If you do receive marketing calls, you can be reasonably confident that they are from scammers.

Whilst a unique PIN is issued with each card, a cardholder can reset it to a PIN of their choice by using the app, or in Online Banking, or by contacting Northern Inland. You should choose a PIN that you can remember, but that does not represent part of your address, date of birth or telephone number. It should not be able to be easily guessed by any other person, so avoid consecutive and repeated numbers.

Do not keep a record of your PIN anywhere near your card. Your PIN is your signature, so never share it with any other person, including family and friends. If you suspect your PIN confidentiality has been compromised, contact Northern Inland for assistance to change your PIN. Northern Inland staff will never ask you for your PIN.

Keep your card in a safe place, and do not share it with any other person, including family and friends. If you cannot locate your card, Northern Inland provides you with the ability to lock your card against any use in the app. Remember to report lost and/or stolen cards promptly to Northern Inland so that they can be cancelled. Delays in reporting your card as missing to Northern Inland can affect your liability for unauthorised transactions. To protect against your card being intercepted in the mail, and used, Northern Inland sends out its cards in an unactivated state. To activate your card, use the app, Online Banking or contact us.

Take care when using an ATM to remove your card before leaving. At the point where your card inserts to the machine, the light should be flashing. Check also for any protrusions in this area which don’t appear to be part of the machine – scammers may have attached a skimming device which collects information from your card and your PIN when you enter it on the keypad. There may also be scratches or tape near the insertion point. Skimming devices allow scammers to collect enough card information for them to produce a replica of your card which can then be used to make unauthorised access to your account. If you have any doubts, use another ATM.